WHEATBELT ORGANISATION FOR CHILDREN’S SERVICES (WOCS) An Outline of Children’s Services Throughout the Wheatbelt UUppddaatteedd MMaarrcchh 22000066 Contents Wheatbelt 3 WOCS – Who are we? 4 Summary of Issues 5 Issues Faced by Country Children’s Services -Personal Experience of a Coordinator 6 TAFE WA CY O’Connor College Perspective 8 Resource Unit for Children with Special Needs (RUCSN) Perspective 9 Individual Community Profiles Brookton 10 Corrigin 11 Dowerin 12 Goomalling 13 Hyden 15 Kellerberrin 17 Kondinin 18 Kulin 20 Merredin (Madcaps) 22 Moora 23 Mt Marshall - the N.E. Wheatbelt Child Care Project 25 Mukinbudin 28 Narembeen 31 Narrogin 32 Upper Great Southern Family Day Care Scheme 33 Northam 34 Quairading 35 Toodyay 36 Wongan Hills 37 Wundowie 39 Wyalkatchem 40 Yilgarn 41 The Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association – Information Flyer 44 - 2 - WHEATBELT The Wheatbelt Region covers 155,256 square kilometers of the State and comprises of 44 local government authorities. The majority of the State’s grain growing areas are found within this region. “The wheatbelt region is a dominant agricultural region in both the state and nation. Broadacre cereal crops, wool and livestock are still the major commodities of the region. Economic links between primary industry and other sectors such as manufacturing which service agriculture remain strong.” (Hon Kim Chance, Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) The Wheatbelt’s Gross Regional Product was estimated to be $2.8 billion in 2001/2002 by the Department of Local Government and Regional Development. This is about 45.5% of that States total production. There are 4,811 agricultural holdings in the Wheatbelt and this covers 11.4.million hectares. The manufacturing sector that supports the agriculture sector employs 4.8% of the regions workforce. As the population increases the building and construction industry will also prosper. A strong retail and wholesale trade industry services the agricultural sector. The tourism industry in the Wheatbelt has grown with 775200 visitors arriving in 2002. The Wheatbelts population consists of 72,282 people (3.8% of the states population) and the Department for Planning and Infrastructure are projecting this to grow to 118000 by 2031. 30% of Wheatbelt residents are under six years of age, 17% are 6-10 years and 40% are 21 and over. This information was gained from: “Living in the Regions” “The Wheatbelt Report” completed by Patterson Market Research for Department of Commerce and Trade, Regional Development Council, Ministry for Planning and Regional Development Commissions. - 3 - WOCS – Who Are We? - Wheatbelt Organisation for Children’s Services Achieving Access, Equity and Sustainability for Children’s Services in the Wheatbelt WOCS was established in July 2005 due to ongoing concerns raised by the different communities in the Wheatbelt regarding the managing of and obtaining child care services. During 2004 and 2005 constituents brought these matters to the attention of their parliamentary representatives. This resulted in Brendan Grylls MLA, facilitating a forum on Children’s Services in the Wheatbelt held at Parliament House on 9 June 2005. The Minister for Community Development, Sheila McHale, kindly attended. Issues and concerns faced by Wheatbelt communities regarding child care were discussed. Communities involved cover the area from Southern Cross to Jurien to Hyden to Wagin to Williams to Wundowie. This covers 42 Shires and numerous small country towns. The consistent theme that arose from all communities involved in the forum was the fact that child care services in rural areas are : • a service to their community not a business; and • that there needed to be an acknowledgement that child care services in rural and remote areas of WA were very different from child care services in metropolitan WA. Key areas of concern were in relation to funding, the need for flexibility in the models of child care, expectations placed on volunteer management committees and issues raised regarding the Child Care Regulation Review. Wheatbelt communities are all committed to quality child care for their children. Our goal as stated above is to :- “Achieve access, equity and sustainability for children’s services in the Wheatbelt” by looking to the future to ensure: 1. Recognition of specific requirements within the Wheatbelt • Comprehensive consultation regarding the Child Care Regulation Review • Tailoring Licensing regulations to eliminate disadvantages to Wheatbelt services 2. Flexibility of child care models to reflect individual community needs • Full Child Care rebate for all • Access to sustainability allowance or similar for all Wheatbelt services Contact Information Should you wish to contact a member of WOCS please email: Georgina Mackintosh (Wongan Hills):- [email protected] - 4 - Summary of Issues The purpose of this document is to bring together the backgrounds and experiences of Wheatbelt communities in establishing (or trying to establish) some form of child care to their areas. Each community and service is different but all have experienced predominately the same hurdles in maintaining such a valuable service in their respective towns. The following points highlight the main concerns held by Wheatbelt communities who are operating or trying to set up child care facilities in their towns:- Regulations Buildings − lack of availability − costs required to comply with Regulations − no purpose built child care centers available in country Staffing − lack of qualified staff for permanent or relief work Recognition needed for specific country situations Funding Lack of appropriate models for country services Lack of collaboration between State & Federal Governments Volunteers Limited knowledge and limited training available A few people doing all of the work on all of the committees within the community – overworked! It should be noted however that the enormous workloads placed on volunteers (as outlined in all community profiles) to establish, sustain and keep their services operating, is a task these people take on board and shoulder the responsibility for, with the typical “can do” mentality of country people who simply do what needs to be done to ensure they have access to high quality childcare. - 5 - Issues Faced by Country Children’s Services - Personal Experience of a Coordinator Over the last twelve years I have worked in several child care services, located both in the city and the country. It is apparent that there is a major difference between the operational management of these services. While all services are bound by the Regulations, the location of the service has a major bearing upon the services ability to interpret, manage and sustain their observance of these regulations. Personal Experience Most children’s services whether located in the city or the country have their main aim as to deliver high quality care to their clients, that is, the children and their families. Overall the issues faced by city services are fairly well known. There is a higher volume of services and so they have a stronger voice. My most recent experience has been as Coordinator of the Kulin Child Care Centre. Some Issues Facing City Services • High staff turn over (low wages, high burn out rate, parental leave) • Costs (profit margins) • Competition with other services Some Issues Facing Country Services • Impractical Regulations • Inability to attract qualified staff to rural/remote areas • Costs, fundraising (small pool with which to draw from) • Service structure is often required to be multifunctional ie. Occasional, LDC, OSHC • Volunteer shortage and high expectations from volunteers • Lack of training opportunities for staff and volunteers • Lack of support when required, CSO’s are unable to keep up with demand • Single service communities reliance upon service • Shortage of suitable buildings within communities which comply with Regulation requirements. These issues are merely scratching the surface. Rural children’s services are fully aware of the need to comply with the Regulations and to deliver a high quality service but are faced with major staffing and building requirement issues everyday. The Regulations are ambiguous and inflexible. It cannot be expected that a person who is not child care experienced or who is qualified in other areas (ie. Teaching, nursing) will be able to completely interpret the Regulations as is expected. Volunteers are the mainstay for the survival of country child care services but are not equipped to deal with these areas and are rarely well informed about where to seek help. - 6 - Given that many country services run with their only qualified worker under exemption, how are these services expected to comply with the Regulations, which are seemingly written for well funded city services. One might suggest that the answer is to shut down these services if they cannot correctly interpret and comply with the Regulations and cannot find valid assistance. However, these are the main respite and intervention services, which serve a major portion of their community. Without these services it is likely that unregulated, ill equipped and most likely, dangerous places for the care of young children would replace them. It is necessary for country families to have access to high quality child care just as they would if they lived within the metro area. The alternative is to ensure the continuance of country children’s services by offering flexibility within the Regulations